Singapore

Techstars is bringing its global accelerator program to Asia for the first time in partnership with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and its chat app Viber.
The companies will run a three-month program in Singapore starting in July, according to a joint announcement made today. The focus will be on social messaging and, in particular, technologies and startups that align with Viber, the… Read More

Tech In Asia, the Singapore-based media and events startup, has closed $6.6 million in fresh funding.
The lead investor is a name that may not be too familiar to regular readers (yet) and that’s Hanwha Investment and Securities. The fund is an affiliate of Hanwha, a Korean conglomerate which started out in explosives in 1952 but has since expanded into a range of verticals including (now)… Read More

Southeast Asia-based aCommerce, a startup that helps brands get into e-commerce and digital media in the fast-growing region, has pulled in $65 million in new funding led by Emerald Media, an Asian firm backed by global investor KKR.
The Series B deal takes Bangkok-based aCommerce to $94 million raised to date. Existing backers Blue Sky, MDI Ventures and Switzerland-based DKSH also took… Read More

Last week we announced our upcoming Meetup in Singapore on November 23, and now here comes the all-important ticket information.
Head to this link HERE and fill out your details to apply for one.
Admission is free but unfortunately we can’t guarantee that everyone who requests a ticket will get one. That’s because we are limited on space, but we do plan to release videos of the… Read More

New CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been vocal in pledging to reform Uber’s toxic culture to take the business to the next level — and ultimately an IPO — but, over in Asia, another recent arrival is presiding over a revamped approach which includes turning those who were once enemies into friends.
Brooks Entwistle, a former Chairman of Goldman Sachs Southeast Asia, joined… Read More

Here at TechCrunch we serve a global audience which is why we’ve held casual meetup events across many different parts of the world. Now we’re excited to add a new region to that list: Southeast Asia.
As someone who has watched the region’s startup ecosystem grow in recent years, I’m delighted to announce that we’re teaming up with Google and VC firm SeedPlus to… Read More

One of Southeast Asia’s lesser-known startups has come out from under the radar today after ShopBack, a cash back-focused e-commerce service, announced it has raised $25 million.
Founded in 2014, the Singapore-based startup helps users shop ‘smarter’ using a selection of curated deals and cash back offers through partner merchants across six countries in Southeast Asia… Read More

There’s more funding for Southeast Asia’s growing local services space after Kaodim, a Malaysia-based startup that operates in four countries in the region, raised $7 million.
Founded three years ago, Kaodim is a service for booking for hiring a range of services that include cleaning, moving, appliance care, and even photography.
The round was led by Square Peg Capital, a… Read More

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Grab is best known for rivaling Uber in Southeast Asia, but today the company took a major step into becoming a fintech player, too.
That’s because the ride-sharing firm, which recently raised $2 billion from SoftBank and China’s Didi Chuxing, rolled out support for its GrabPay service among third-party merchants for the first time today.
Grab is present in seven markets across… Read More

Cars congesting roads is a problem in just about every major urban center around the world, but some areas are worst in this regard than others. Singapore is one of those, and it’s going to do something about it – the government there has announced that it will cut the annual growth rate of cars and motorcycles allowed on roads in the country from 0.25 percent to zero starting… Read More

Grab is in the process of raising $2.5 billion for it ride hailing service in Southeast Asia, but that hasn’t stopped the Uber rival from tapping banks for $700 million in debt facilities to develop its business.
The Singapore-based company said it had pulled in the financing from “leading global and regional banks” to expand its car rental fleet in Singapore and Indonesia… Read More

Grab, Uber’s main rival in Southeast Asia, has made a move into dock-less bikes after the company quietly backed oBike.
Singapore-based Grab invested in oBike — which was started in Singapore by Chinese founders and is present in 30 cities — as part of a $45 million Series B round that was announced in August, a source with knowledge of the deal told TechCrunch. Read More

Grab may be in the process of raising a huge $2.5 billion investment round, with SoftBank, Didi and Toyota confirmed as participants, but Uber’s Southeast Asia-based rival has lost its head of engineering.
Arul Kumaravel, VP of engineering at Grab, has left the company for personal reasons, according to a source. It’s not yet clear what his next plan is. Grab confirmed the… Read More

German automotive giant Continental is furthering its push into the future of transportation after it got its check book out to acquire Quantum Inventions, a Singapore-based company that specializes in mobility data services.
The deal was announced in July with little fanfare and it is officially undisclosed, but a source told TechCrunch that it is around the SG$40 million mark —… Read More

Uber is in the spotlight for shady operations once again after a report revealed that the U.S. ride-hailing giant knowingly leased cars that were subject to a recall to drivers in Singapore.
A Wall Street Journal report exposed the events which took place in 2016 and centered around the Honda Vezel, one of a number of vehicles that Uber purchased and then made available for drivers to lease… Read More

Less than a week after the SEC said that it may regulate certain crypto token sales, better known as ICOs, Singapore has followed suit to say it too will regulate offerings that are deemed to be securities.
Already a global financial hub, Singapore has developed into a destination of sorts for ICOs, with the likes of TenX ($80 million), Golem ($8.6 million) and Qtum ($15.6 million) among those… Read More

It’s official — Amazon has launched its Prime Now delivery service in Singapore, its first market in Southeast Asia. The Amazon apps went live in Singapore early last night local time, and Prime Now — an aggressive two-hour delivery service — is available to Singapore’s population of over five million people from today. Read More

Amazon is continuing its international expansion push with the launch of its services in Singapore coming imminently. The arrival could happen as soon as this week, according to a source with knowledge of the plans, and it will mark Amazon’s entry into Southeast Asia.
The launch will see Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Now fast delivery and Amazon’s regular e-commerce services… Read More